On a future flight to Boston, Miami or Los Angeles, your airplane could be protected from heat-seeking missiles.
Representatives from global defense and tech firm Northrop Grumman on Wednesday touted the successful results of more than a year of tests of its Guardian System, which redirects heat-seeking missiles launched at aircraft.
“This system has saved lives and will continue to save lives,” James Pitts, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman?s Electronic Systems sector, said at the Midfield Cargo Complex at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense will review the results of Northrop Grumman?s tests. It?s still the government?s call if and when commercial aircraft will be equipped with the system. Northrop Grumman suggested the system be used on commercial aircraft that transport military troops and supplies to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It?s going to come down to a government decision,” said David Denton, director of Northrop Grumman?s Commercial Programs.
More than $1 billion has been invested in the development and production of the system, which has been used to protect military aircraft. Northrop Grumman has completed adapting the technology for use on commercial aircraft.
The system was developed to defend against man-portable air-defense systems, which are shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. The weapons are lightweight and used by 27 terrorist groups around the world, said Jack Pledger, director of business development for Northrop Grumman?s Defensive Systems Division.
The missiles can hit an aircraft within three to 10 seconds of being fired, and the impacts are often lethal. The Guardian System, which is about 7 feet long and about 500 pounds, can be attached to the bottom of the plane. The system detects when a missile has been fired at the plane, sends a signal to the missile and changes the missile?s guidance.
Since January 2007, Northrop Grumman tested the system on more than 4,500 flights from 51 U.S. airports, totaling more than 10,000 hours of flight time. Officials say no plane equipped with the system was hit, and several British aircraft using the system have deflected some missiles.
“We?re saving lives every day with this technology,” Pledger said.
